-Commonly referred to as Modernity and Modern. i.e. 'Modern Art'
-Modernity also encompasses industrialisation, urbanisation. Massive changes in the way people lived their lives.
-As a by-product of all of this change artists responded in increasingly different ways. Moving away from a stagnated style of art.
Modernism emerges out of the subjective
responses of artists / designers to Modernity.-Modernity implies an improvement of the old. In particular the consumer world was born, we were able to produce and sell much more. People began to take more for granted as a race.
-Enlightenment caused people to turn to science and discovery over god and superstition. People were educated as a national doctrine, meaning that the world was understood to a greater degree and religion was needed less/ used less by people as an explanation.
This is a short history of Modernity.... Notes taken from lecture. -We saw Paris as the premier example of a Modern City in 1900. This was
because of massive Industrialisation and Urbanisation in the city. Many
changes were noticed by the population;
-More government and police control
-More people (overcrowding)
-Life Speeds Up, not much rest
-World seems smaller and connected, with rails and roads connecting everyone
-With big new inventions and ideas came massive social change. A huge
culture race was started between London and Paris, to claim superiority
as the worlds premier nation of enlightenment.
- Paris built the Eiffel Tower, it represented the key principles of the modern world:
-Grand Scale.
-Ambition/ Drive
-Use of modern materials, never used before.
-It also represented massive change, dominating the pairs skyline it said 'this is the future, its big and if you don't like it, tough, because its here to stay'
-Because the world was more connected by rail, ships, etc, world time was introduced to the industrial world, effectively causing the entire modern world to become regimented to their places of work.
-New degrees of human separation was experienced in the city. People would not know the people they shared their home-town with and one person became indistinguishable from another. As a result modern fashion was born and the middle classes upwards would dress in increasingly wild ways to stand out from the crowd.
-Napoleon destroys the old-poor centre of Paris and replaces it with much wider streets and upper class homes. This forced the poor into ghettos on the outskirts of the city, an idea which is till copied in today's cities.
-Old art (Monarchs, Myths, Stories, Religious) was replaced primarily by art with a focus point on the city, where people merely the participants of the new world.
-Growth in
Psychology, scientists begin to work out how the human mind works, many people were concerned that the rapid growth of technology and society would drive people insane.
-As a by-product paintings became more emotional, dark with people looking more miserable and disconnected.
-Modernity forced art into a new place, art often believes that it leads the way but in fact it is more of a responder to the society it is placed in.
-As scientists start to experiment with new materials and ideas so do artists, which finally changed the face of art. Photography ruins the practice of realistic fine paintings, art is forced to become more experimental.
-Factory work REGIMENTS LIFE. People begin to plan their minimal leisure time separately from work and the two no longer intertwine.
-Alcoholism becomes a modern experience as alcohol becomes more available in a higher quantity.
-With the invention of the KiaserPanorama people realise that technology has become a fetish. People go to see images of the country side and buildings on a screen instead of going to see them for themselves. Technology becomes more interesting than the real world.
-Realism is abandoned as as photography changes the way we record images.
-Same thing happens in design. The Bauhaus is created with the modernist principles of;
-Anti-history. Look forward.
-Truth to materials. No painting wood, metals or concrete, etc.
-Form follows Function- with the idea that beauty can come from function.
-New technologies now used insead of ignored for the traditional standard.
-Aims to be international, compatible with all cultures and customs.
-'Ornament is a crime' doctrine enters the design world... trying to make things trendy means that eventually they will go out of fashion. Keeping things simple in form can create a timeless object.
-These principles then applied themselves to typography. Designers asked if serifs were needed in fonts some even proposed a scrapping of capital letters entirely. All excess stuff was to be scrapped.
-At the same time Times New Roman (1932) became a symbol of classic power and tradition, a direct attack on modernism.
-Modernity generally experienced between 1750-1960.
